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Queen Ahmose

Great Royal Wives - The People

Great Royal Wife, Queen Ahmose 

Her full name was Ahmose Merytamun, meaning “born of the moon”

Family

Married to Pharaoh Thutmoses I during the 18th Dynasty, her lineage is unknown.  It is thought that Pharaoh Thutmoses I inherited the Throne from Pharaoh Amenhotep I but that Thutmoses himself was not directly related to the previous Pharaoh. It has been suggested that Queen Ahmose may have been a sister to her Husband or, less likely, a sister to the previous Pharaoh, Amenhotep I. This is less likely as Queen Ahmose was never afforded the Title, “King’s Sister” during Pharaoh Amenhotep I’s reign.

With her husband, Queen Ahmose had 2 children, Princess Neferubity and the infamous future Great Royal Wife, Queen, Regent and Pharaoh, Hatshepsut.

 

Titles

Hereditary Princess

Great of Praises

Mistress of Great Beloved Sweetness

Great King’s Wife, his beloved

Mistress of Gladness

Lady of all Women

Mistress of the Two Lands

Companion of Horus

Beloved Companion of Horus

King’s Sister

As with many Great Royal Wives not much is known about Ahmose’s life. However, Pharaoh Hatshepsut when cementing her position as Pharaoh by confirming her divine conception, featured her mother prominently, as you could expect her to.

According to these Divine Conception Reliefs, the God Amun approaches Queen Ahmose after she has been brought to his attention by the God Thoth. Thoth says,

“Ahmose is her name, the beneficent, mistress of . . . . . She is Wife of the King Thutmose I, given Life Forever”

Amun meets with Queen Ahmose in the Royal Palace and they conceive the future Pharaoh in a “shower of gold”. God Amun names her as, “Khnemet-Amun-Hatshepsut”. He then instructs God Khnum, the creator God, to create Hatshepsut into form after which the Reliefs portray Queen Ahmose giving birth Hatshepsut in the usual confinement within the Royal Palace Rooms of the Queen.

Drawing of Relief of Divine Birth Scenes – Dendera Temple

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